Product description

A novel of startling scope and ambition, Prague depicts an intentionally lost Lost Generation as it follows five American expats who come to Budapest in the early 1990s to seek their fortune. They harbor the vague suspicion that their counterparts in Prague have it better, but still they hope to find adventure, inspiration, a gold rush, or history in the making.

Author information

Arthur Phillips was born in Minneapolis and educated at Harvard. He has been a child actor, a jazz musician, a speechwriter, a dismally failed entrepreneur, and a five-time Jeopardy! champion. He lived in Budapest from 1990 to 1992 and now lives in Paris with his wife and son. "From the Hardcover edition."

Review quote

"Ingenious...Phillips presents his characters with a wry generosity and haunting poignancy to rival his wonderfully subversive wit."
--The New York Times
"Wry and skillful...a rare balance of wisdom and imagination."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Stop yearning for that elegant, entertaining novel that used to be. Thanks to Phillips, it's right here, right now."
--Newsweek
"Rhapsodic."
--The Washington Post Book World
"Heartbreaking...a masterpiece of caustic satire."
--Los Angeles Times
"Really an old-fashioned novel of ideas...very funny...likely to leave you aching, too."
--The New Yorker
"Few first novels blaze with such all-knowing poise....Phillips is a wisecracking microbiologist of society and spirit."
--People

Flap copy

A novel of startling scope and ambition, Prague depicts an intentionally lost Lost Generation as it follows five American expats who come to Budapest in the early 1990s to seek their fortune. They harbor the vague suspicion that their counterparts in Prague have it better, but still they hope to find adventure, inspiration, a gold rush, or history in the making.